Districts drama: Plenty of intrigue as boys basketball playoffs begin Monday

Mar. 5—TRAVERSE CITY — Playoff basketball is already well underway for the girls, but the boys get into action come Monday. Here's a quartet of questions that need some answers as district tournaments begin across northern Michigan.

1. What possible championship matches have the potential to be absolute barnburners?

If all goes chalk in these brackets, there are going to be some incredible championship games come Friday — which would make it seem that the Michigan Power Ratings are working when it comes to seeding the tournaments.

In Division 1, fans could be treated to a rematch between Big North Conference foes Traverse City Central and Petoskey. The Trojans and Northmen put on a great show that saw Anthony Ribel connect on two late free throws to ice a 61-58 victory and a share of the BNC crown. Central got the best of Petoskey earlier in the season, so Cade Trudeau and the Northmen will have to find a way to break through and get a win while the Trojans look to keep doing what has been working.

On the Division 2 slate, a couple of teams just on the outside of the top 10 in the Michigan Associated Press rankings have eyes for each other in the finals. Top-seeded Cadillac, which knocked off Traverse City St. Francis in overtime Thursday, could see 20-2 Ludington on Friday. But the Vikings do have the advantage as they are one of the Orioles' two losses. Cadillac beat Ludington handily on Jan. 30 by a 66-35 final, but the Orioles' offense has been on a roll since, averaging better than 76 points per game.

When it comes to Division 3, the possible finals matchup between any combination of the trio of Traverse City St. Francis, Glen Lake and Benzie Central is quite appealing, but we'll get into that district bracket more in question two.

Division 4 has three (or four) possible title games that are worthy of a courtside seat if you can get it.

At Ellsworth, it likely will be either the host Lancers or Bellaire taking on the ultra-talented Gaylord St. Mary Snowbirds. Ellsworth with the likes of Kelan Pletcher, Jacob Jenuwine and Patrick Puroll dropped 101 points on Alanson; and the Bellaire trio of Jayden Hansen, Drake Koepke and Dawson Derrer will give St. Mary a run for its money for the title.

Mesick and Buckley, both high-scoring and athletic squads, square off in the semis to likely take on McBain Northern Michigan Christian, which is just as high scoring and athletic than the Bulldogs and Bears. That title game is guaranteed to be a run-and-gun battle that sees a lot of shots from long distance. And if it's Buckley v. McBain NMC, the Bears just got the better of the Comets in their Thursday matchup at Buckley, winning 62-58.

The other likely matchup will see No. 7-ranked Lake Leelanau St. Mary Eagles take on Traverse City Christian in a rematch of one of the best budding rivalries in northern Michigan. But we'll get into that a little more in question four.

2. Who comes out alive: St. Francis, Glen Lake or Benzie?

No disrespect to Lake City, Manton or Pine River — the other three teams in the Division 3 district bracket — but the likely victor to head to regional action is one of these three: Traverse City St. Francis, Glen Lake or Benzie Central.

Both St. Francis and Glen Lake have first-round byes that put them into Wednesday's semifinals while Benzie takes on Lake City in the first game of the quarterfinals doubleheader at Lake City on Monday. The Huskies get the Gladiators if they win, and the Lakers take on the winner of Manton and Pine River.

St. Francis is ranked No. 9 both in the latest Michigan Associated Press poll and the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Power Ratings. The Glads have won their last eight games and 16 of their last 18. Those two losses came to Boyne City, which they avenged with a 24-point victory last month, and to undefeated and Division 1 No. 1 Detroit Cass Tech, 46-39.

The Gladiators seem to be firing on all cylinders at the moment and have been playing an elevated brand of basketball since that seven-point setback to the Technicians.

"That's why you play those games," St. Francis head coach Sean Finnegan said. "You do that to push your kids to the absolute limit of how much you can get out of them. ... We knew and the kids knew that they could play at that level. It was a good reminder that it's just another team with five guys on the floor, and we can hang with them like we can hang with anyone else."

The Glads are the district favorites, but Finnegan said that is not the focus. The focus is on the game.

"We don't look at the hype or the rankings or the records," he said. "We've been caught by that before. It doesn't matter how it looks, you just have to win. ... We're well aware of the target on our back, so we're approaching every game like it's the state final. Hopefully, that keeps the boys focused and in the right mindset for 32 minutes."

The Lakers have hit a bit of a bump on the road down the final stretch of the regular season.

After winning 15 straight games, the Lakers have gone 3-3 down the streatching, losing to McBain (61-50), Frankfort (60-51) and Division 4 No. 7 Lake Leelanau St. Mary (71-54).

But that does not mean Glen Lake should be taken lightly. The Lakers' wealth of talent on that team, highlighted by the high-scoring Luke Hazelton along with the defensive prowess of Neil Ihme have the caliber of a championship team.

It always pays to be hot going into the postseason, but the best time to right the ship is the first game of the playoffs.

"We've had success against Benzie this year, but you don't really want to play a team a third time, and I'm assuming St. Francis is going to be the favorite to win that district," Glen Lake head coach Rob Flaska said. "It's been a long season for us. ... Out of those 15 games we won, only one of those was really a close game. Now, we get these games and go (3-3). So I'm a little concerned about us finishing games, and I know we have to change up some things that we do that other teams are getting comfortable with."

Flaska is hopeful his team will be prepared when the win-or-go-home games begin.

"When we get into those games, it's do or die," he said. "There are no more second chances."

As for the upset-minded Benzie Central Huskies, they have the talent to compete with a lot of top-tier teams. They just have to put it all together on both ends of the floor to make it happen. Benzie has been worked over by Glen Lake twice this season, losing 70-34 and 69-38, but a vulnerable Lakers team could be ripe for the picking if the Huskies play it right. Benzie hasn't seen St. Francis this season, but the last time the Huskies and Gladiators went toe to toe, it was Benzie pulling out the 70-57 victory for a district championship last season.

Benzie head coach Josh Crocker said the team's challenging schedule was meant to provide some seasoning to a relatively young team heading into the '22-23 campaign.

"We're trying to get them as ready as possible for this second season and when March comes around," Crocker said. "We feel like we've certainly done that. The last couples of weeks have been a brutal stretch, and I don't think we've played our best basketball by any means. The tough competition has never really let us get into a spot where we're comfortable, but we've continued to grow throughout the season."

3. Is there room for surprise teams to pull off upsets like we saw in the football playoffs?

The 2022-23 season certainly hasn't been one of parity, and it definitely has not been the year of the underdog. More often than not, the teams that were supposed to win won and the teams that were supposed to lose lost.

Now, that isn't to say the rare upset did not happen here or there. But when it happened, it was few and far between. Even some of the upsets were a battle of two good teams (i.e. Lake Leelanau St. Mary topping Glen Lake on the road by 17 on Tuesday). So it doesn't seem all that probable that we'll see surprise wins on the hardcourt like we saw on the gridiron when Manistee beat undefeated Boyne City and a 3-6 Benzie Central team toppled the 8-1 Charlevoix Rayders.

Can Traverse City West with a young talented core get hot at the right time and stun the favored Trojans or Northmen? Possibly, but they would have to stay hot over a three-game stretch to make it happen. What about Bellaire or Ellsworth taking down the Snowbirds of Gaylord St. Mary? Absolutely, but again, those are both good teams with some top-talent players. The same goes for the aforementioned Benzie Huskies.

Grayling is probably the most intriguing of the candidates for Cinderella's slipper. The Vikings made it to the state quarterfinals last season after going 10-9 in the regular season, so some returning players — including point guard Ethan Kucharek — have that experience.

This year's crew is 13-9, but the Vikes would still have to get by a Boyne City team that has beaten them by 18 points twice this season.

"It's a similar situation but different clientele," Grayling head coach LJ Mead said, referring to the youth on his team. "We were senior-oriented, last year. This year, we're more junior-oriented with a couple sophomores in the mix. Could we make another run? Absolutely. If the kids come together and play well and put together some good games, we'll have a chance. With that said, Cheboygan played us really well the last time, and we had to win that game at the buzzer. And they're the first thing we'll have to take care of."

That isn't to say there won't be upsets or surprises, but it looks pretty good to be the favorite right now.

4. Can Traverse City Christian finally get by Lake Leelanau St. Mary?

One of the best young rivalries in northern Michigan Michigan has to be between the Sabres of Traverse City Christian and the seventh-ranked Eagles of Lake Leelanau St. Mary. But for it to be a rivalry, both teams need to have put checkmarks in the win column — and that is something TC Christian has not done in the last four meetings dating back to last season.

The Eagles went into hostile territory on Jan. 26 and topped the Sabres by 11 points in a 51-40 final. Last season, St. Mary put a hurting on TC Christian in their first matchup, winning 65-45. But the Sabres made it a game in the second regular-season battle, losing by just a single point, 47-46, after holding the Eagles scoreless in the third quarter. St. Mary then handled business in the first round of districts, completing the three-game season sweep with an 84-69 win. The Sabres' last win over the Eagles was a 54-49 victory on Feb. 25, 2021.

For the Sabres and Eagles to meet again, TC Christian will have to get by Leland and St. Mary will have to beat Suttons Bay in their semifinal games Wednesday.

"First thing we have to do is take care of business with Leland," TC Christian head coach Rene LaFreniere said. "They're not going to just show up, roll over and play dead for us. We have to win that game because they're going to play ball, so we're going to play ball. You don't want to get trapped and find yourself in a bad situation."

If the Sabres are fortunate enough to advance to Friday and the district championship game against a likely Lake Leelanau St. Mary opponent, LaFreniere knows his team faces a fairly monumental task.

"Oh gee, I don't know, we just have to go in and beat them on their home floor," he said. "It looks to me like they're firing on all cylinders, so the bottom line is that we've got to have a great shooting night and they've got to miss some shots. We've got to be able to control the tempo as best as we can. And if everything goes right, we're still going to need a break here or there. You don't make a tournament run without a bit of luck."

Despite the difficult challenge the Eagles present to the Sabres, St. Mary is the team that LaFreniere wants to face for a district championship. If they get that far.

"The kids are pretty loose. There's no pressure on them," he said of his team. "The expectation is for St. Mary to repeat and have another deep run, so we're just going to go play and let them worry about that."

LaFreniere said St. Mary has been the best team in the area for at least the last two seasons. He considers the Eagles to be the best team in the area right now across any division.

"I'd put them on the floor against any team with a chance to win," he said. "Do we want to play them? Yeah, of course we do. We've been the underdog in every game we've played against them in the last two years, and that's fine. But it's our measuring stick. If we can make it to a Friday night district final, that's a step further than last year. We want to be there, and we're looking forward to it."

Every player that laces up his sneakers hopes to play Friday night, but only the winners will move on to regionals.